About Us
Artistic Director
Christine Meneer, Artistic Director of BTO is a native of Cuyahoga Falls. Her early ballet training was with Heinz Poll, founder of Ohio Ballet. Meneer danced several seasons with Ohio Ballet as well as with Pennsylvania Ballet before retiring from the stage. In 1984, Ms. Meneer started her own ballet school, Meneer School of Dance, in Munroe Falls, specializing in training children ages 3-18 in the art of classical ballet. Whether young students simply want to achieve poise and coordination, or if they wish to become professional dancers, Ms. Meneer manages to balance the fine art of discipline with a love of movement.
Ms. Meneer founded Ballet Theatre of Ohio in 1993. She has choreographed five full-length ballets for the company including the critically acclaimed holiday tradition, The Nutcracker, which has just completed its 21st successful run at the Akron Civic Theatre. Her fifth full-length ballet premiered in May 2009: The Wizard of Oz. Ms. Meneer also serves as the resident costume designer for the company.
In 2007, the Akron Area Arts Alliance chose Ms. Meneer to receive the Outstanding Artist in Dance award, and in 2015 the Peg's Foundation awarded Ms. Meneer and Ballet Theatre of Ohio the Impact Award for Excellence in Arts, an award dedicated to people and organizations "providing superior arts programming".
Ms. Meneer is also the director of the highly acclaimed Meneer School of Dance. All pre-professional dancers in BTO productions receive their training from Christine Meneer and her professional staff. Students are accepted throughout the year in ballet, jazz and tap.
Board of Trustees
President - Deborah Wilhite
Vice President - Peter Cook
Treasurer - Ashley Prado
Secretary - Lynette Urankar
Trustee - Elizabeth Armington